Von Ryan's Express

"If you crab this, the Germans won't have to kill you; I'll do it myself."

During WWII, American Colonel Joseph Ryan (Sinatra) is shot down over Italy.  He is captured by Italian troops and taken to a POW camp, run by Major Basilio Battaglia (Adolfo Celi).  Battaglia is a cruel leader and his harsh punishments killed the highest ranking prisoner the night before.  The majority of the prisoners are British.  There are 8 American prisoners, led by Sergeant Bostick (Dexter).  Many are suffering from malaria.  Ryan is the highest ranking officer in the camp and becomes the leader of the prisoners, despite protestations from Major Eric Fincham (Howard).  The British prisoners are regularly trying to escape and have various tunnels around the camp, while the American prisoners are content to wait for rescue from the advancing Allied troops.  Ryan manages to get better conditions for the prisoners before the Italian army surrenders.  The prisoners escape, with help from Italian Captain Oriani (Fantoni).

Ryan and company are captured by German Major von Klemment (Preiss).  They are placed on a train heading for Germany.  German guards are stationed on the top of the train with machine guns, while the Major lives in the back of the train.  Ryan, Oriani, Fincham, Lieutenant Orde (Leyton), chaplain Captain Costanzo (Mullhare), and doctor Captain Stein (Michael Goodlife), devise a plan to overtake the train and head to Switzerland.  Can they successfully evade the German army and make it to Switzerland?


The film is based on the 1963 novel "Von Ryan's Express".  The author, David Westheimer, was a POW during WWII and used his experience to write the novel.  The novel was a bestseller and the film rights were purchased by 20th Century Fox.  Frank Sinatra was a fan of the novel and wanted to buy the film rights, but when he discovered that Fox already owned the rights, he expressed an interest in starring in the film.  But he insisted that they change the end of the film.  Other than change, the film is pretty faithful to the novel.

The film is similar to other WWII escape films like Stalag 17 and The Great Escape, which are both based on actual events. The benefits from using actual trains and aircrafts from the time period.  They also did most of the filming in Italy and Spain.

The cast is good.  Sinatra is a good lead, but not entirely likeable throughout the film.  He is matched by British actor Trevor Howard, who sells the intensity.  Their differing viewpoints / opinions throughout the film work well.  Most of the other characters don't get a huge chance to shine and are hard to remember afterwards.  The standout is Edward Mulhare as the chaplain who has to impersonate a German officer.  Sergio Fantoni is also good as Captain Oriani, who is sympathetic from the beginning.

A good action film.

Von Ryan's Express (1965) 117 minutes
Director: Mark Robson
Starring: Frank Sinatra as Colonel Joseph Ryan
Trevor Howard as Major Eric Fincham
Raffaella Carra as Gabriella
Brad Dexter as Sgt. Bostick
Sergio Fantoni as Captain Oriani
John Leyton as Lieutenant Orde
Edward Mulhare as Captain Costanzo
Wolfgang Preiss as Major von Klemment
James Brolin as Private Ames
John van Dreelen as Col. Gortz
Vito Scotti as Italian Locomotive Engineer